Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1887-02-13
TICKLE FORTUNES SMILE
PATHS WARBLING FUTS ABBEY
ON HIS FEET AGAIN.

The Ups and Downs of the ChRncellors
of the Mimic World as Great as Those
of the Bulls and Bears of Wall street
Harry Miners Profitable Catering
to the Less Esthetic Portion of Goth
ANS Play Goers.
NEW YORK. Feb. 12.-Again are the
newspapers filed with paragraphs about
Henry E. Abbey. The fortune made by
introducing Sarah Bernhardt to the
American public and lost in the first
operate season at the Metropolitan Opera
House has been regained in his tour with
Patti.s A Wall street speculator has no
more ups and downs than a theatrical
manager in New York. Strakosch made
and lost fortunes and is said 10 have re-
tired fabulously rich. Bateman, Grau,
Maretzek, Palmer, Jarret, and others liv-
ing and dead, who made 100000 or more
in season, to be lost at the next venture,
stand In marked contrast. Strakosch
seems to be the one exception to the gen.
eral rule. He is the jay Gould while the
others are the Jacob Littles, John 1homp-
sons, Jim keenes and Rufus Hatches OF
theatrical speculatiOns-ricb to-day and
poor tomorrow. Their fortunes slip
lu0lT uuSeT6 ike Se6uSs MAI NSl-
Gus stories are told OF the receipts at
PATHS performances, and Abbey is again
called the Napoleon OF managers, and
credited with fortune which may be lost
next year. There are men ia the mana
gerial line, however, who pile up for
tunes slowly and surely, yet so unobtru-
sively that they are entirely overlooked.
They resem Bile the old-fashIoned brokers
OF Wall street, who take their commits
OF md 70
latiOns. / met one of these men to-day.
He is brOad-shouldered and handsome. A
well-waxed moustache adorns his fiorid
face. His hair is parted in the middle.
Barring a profusiOn OF diamonds, be
dresses in exquisite taste. His cravats
are the pink of perfection. No gentle
man ever wore a more glossy hat. All
this outward displayis backed by natural
geniality and generosity of character. l
have known him to telephone for his pri-
vate carriage and drive over the city from
midnight to daylight to serve a friend.
He is known on every block In the city by
rich and poor. While | was talking with
him millionaire sought his advice con-
corning real estate investment, and
committee Of lOngshOremen called upon
him and offered to handle free of charge
all the coal required in his theatres dur
ing the strike.
greater contrast to Lester Wallack In
personal appearance and business tact
could be found. Wallack has lost for
ture in catering to the tastes of the up-
per ten in amusements, and Miner has
made fortune in pleasing the slower
twenty" down town. | doubt whether
Miner himself knows how rich he is. He
must he worth between $2,0C0,000 and
SO, 100000. He owns five theatres, three
in Mo- Xnrly in Hluu nd Ono in,
Newark, N. j. He not only owns the
buildings, but he owns the ground on
which they are built. He is now erect
ing two more opera houses, one in Troy,
and another in Brooklyn. He has three
or four theatrical combinations on the
road, none of which has ever lost money.
Wealth has poured into his pockets in a
never ceasing stream for the last twelve
years. 1t has been tucked away in real
estate purchases, all of which have
doubled in value. He recently paid $780,
900 for a house in Madison avenue. His
Income must exceed $500, 600 year. His
two theatres in the Bowerv alone netted
him last season SS7, 900. Add to this $26.-
600 from his Eighth Avenue theatre,
$1,000 from his Brooklyn theatre, and
$50, 900 from his travelling companies, and
you have the sum Of $150,O00. This year
the income from tine Newark Opera House
10 w DC oANACAs ~ WILL IIOOdOly OAC6Gu
$4,000.
Miner is 43 years old. He was born in
this city, and be graduated at the Mechan-
les Institute in 1857. He studied medi-
cine, and began prosperous career by
establishing drug stores in populOus dis
tricts. OF restless disposition, he drift
ed into the ocean of amusements, and
quickly sold out mis- pharmacies. He was
| the first to return to cheap prices after the
ND ha M oil ffret IN 81
| harvest that followed. His Peoples the
atre in the BOwery is one of the hand
soonest In the city. The lopbies are spa
| cIous and finely furnished, and the best
| seat in the house can be bought for Toe.
All the reigning stars appear. Henry
| Irving, Lawrence Barrett, Mrs. Lsngtry,
| Sarah Bernhardt, Mary Anderson and 9TH
| ers are no strangers in his theatres. He
| is simply coming money by recognizing
in business way the fact that the war is
| over and that specie payment has been re-
| sumed. He employs enough workmen and
| artists TO fill two regiments.
Miner is usually the first New York
manager to recognize the claims of the
suffering and the oppressed. He led off
! in benefits for the yellow fever and the
| Charleston sufferers, and he has already
| given a nights receipts to the striking
| lOngsnoremeH. He is President of the
u
der his management that it took a benefit
| unrivaled in the history OF the American
stage. President Cleveland, Gov. Hill and
Mayor Grace occupied private boxes, and
the net receipts exceeded $4,000. With
his vast popularity Miner might become
most successful politician. All efforts
/ TO draw him into the field OF politics
however, have failed. He owns large
farm over in New Jersey, where be re.
tires when jaded by tie tolls OF life, and
he has beautiful summer residence on
| the sound.
! Abbey is meteoric and attracts much
attention. Miner is fixed star, with a
shady effulgence. Both are great mana
gers; yet how many have heard OF Abbey
and how few have heard of Miner. Ii
Abbey be the Napoleon of Managers,
OF the theatrical profession,